Historical Events
Captain Webb Conquers the English Channel
Aug 25 Captain Matthew Webb makes the 1st observed and unassisted swim across the English Channel in 21 hours and 45 minutes
Famous Birthdays
- Aug 2 Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian artist, born in Veliky Novgorod, Russia (d. 1957)
- Aug 6 Marcel Labey, French conductor and composer, born in Vésinet, France (d. 1968)
- Aug 8 Artur da Silva Bernardes, President of Brazil (d. 1955)
- Aug 9 Albert William Ketèlbey, British pianist and composer (In A Monastery Garden), born in Aston, Birmingham (d. 1959)
- Aug 12 Ettore Panizza, composer
- Aug 12 Mezio Agostini, Italian composer, born in Fano, Italy (d. 1944)
- Aug 15 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, African-British composer (Hiawatha's Wedding Feast), born in London, England (d. 1912)
- Aug 16 Florrie Forde [Flannagan], Australian singer and British music hall performer, born in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia (d. 1940)
- Aug 18 Johan E. Elias, Dutch historian (Amsterdam's regency), born in Amsterdam (d. 1960)
- Aug 19 Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (Ethiopia, South America), born in Karlovac, Croatia (d. 1936)
- Aug 21 Maurice Lippens, Belgian governor of Congo (1921-23), born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1956)
- Aug 23 William Eccles, English physicist and radio pioneer, born in Barrow-in-Furness, England (d. 1966)
- Aug 23 Eugene Lanceray, Russian artist, born in Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1946)
- Aug 26 John Buchan, Scottish politician, Governor-General of Canada (1935-40), writer (The Thirty-Nine Steps) and historian, born in Perth, Scotland (d. 1940)
- Aug 27 Katharine McCormick, American biologist, suffragist and philanthropist, born in Dexter, Michigan (d. 1967)
Famous Deaths
Hans Christian Andersen
Aug 4 Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author of 150 fairy tales (The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen), dies at 70
